Monday, July 6, 2015

What Happened to the Want Ads?

Once upon a time when I wanted to buy a car I would pick up the weekly newspaper and scour the Want Ads to see what fine vehicles were for sale. If one looked promising, I would pick up the telephone and call, and then if all went well I would go see the car and give her a test drive.

In today's world, no longer do people put their cars in the Want Ads. In fact, newspapers themselves are endanger of going extinct, replaced instead by the invisible and mysterious world of the internet.

Lately I have been shopping around for a used pick up truck for travelling to my beehives on the organic farms where they are placed. Nothing fancy, just something reliable, clean, and under $3000. The closest thing to a Want Ad in today's world is Craigslist so I began my search there. After reviewing what seemed like dozens of ads, I found the perfect truck, a red Ford Ranger, low mileage, mint condition. And the price was low. Incredibly low. I emailed the seller and soon received a reply. The seller was an officer in the Air Force and had been transferred to Alaska from a base in Ohio. She told me she was having the truck shipped to the nearest base then she would pay for a tow truck to deliver it right to my door. I couldn't understand why the truck was so inexpensive and felt like I should offer a bit more as surely she must have been selling it so cheaply due to some hardship she was facing. I was excited over the find and felt the bee goddesses had smiled upon me. I imagined it in the driveway, all shiny and red, full of beekeeping equipment.

Needless to say, after much investigation I discovered that it was a scam.

A few hours later I found another truck on Craigslist, a nice Toyota Tacoma, again at a low price. Suspicious, I emailed the seller. Lo and behold it was a military officer who had just been transferred...this time I recognized the deception and replied "SCAMMER!"

Not to be deterred, I contacted another seller later in the day about an ad that stated they were from a town just south of here. It was a very sweet elderly man selling a 1990 Ford Ranger. He was so excited about his truck he was gushing over it. I scheduled a visit for later in the day. While waiting for the appointed time to arrive, my father looked at he ad and told me the truck was way over priced. I checked online and of course, like always, he was right. It wasn't long before the gentleman called and I had to tell him I wouldn't pay what he was asking. I could tell he was crushed. After all, this was his baby. To him, it was worth thousands and thousands of dollars. I get that. I deal with those same feelings every time I have a garage sale. Most of the items on my table are way overpriced, at least in the buyers' eyes. Of course not in mine.

In the end I told him to give me a call if he doesn't find a buyer and we can talk about lowering the price to something more reasonable. He thanked me for my honesty, but swore if I only came and took it for a ride I would fall in love, too. I smiled and wished him a good evening. And I was sure he was right.

So here we have three types of humans. First, the Scammer, who disrespects those who serve in our military and attempts to con other trusting humans into sending them money for something that doesn't exist. Second, the Innocent, who trusts everyone and cares about strangers so much she would have given a scammer an extra $500 thinking she was helping out a fellow human in need. Last, the Lover, whose old white truck is the apple of his eye and in his mind is priceless. And I wonder if this process is more about learning a little something about people rather than finding the perfect truck. It is a reminder that the world is a much bigger place than the one I grew u[ in and while there are still many kind people, it is hard to know who to believe anymore.

I miss the Want Ads.

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